Searching for Answers
by The Red Dove
Summary: Sequel to Searching for Hiccup. Hiccup and Astrid have a nice life on the Island of Berk, but when their daughter is kidnapped by pirates he defeated during his time as the Night Rider, he realizes that his past can hurt his family, and it has already happened. Can Hiccup still be a father and husband if his adventures aren't over yet?
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back! I figured if I have 67 reviews (As of now) for my old story when I have only 11 chapters, imagine how much the sequel would get on the first chapter! So please make me a happy girl and REVIEW!**

* * *

Astrid started her morning like she did every day.

By waking up her husband.

"Hiccup! Hiccup, if you don't wake up right now, I swear I'm gonna-!"

"Nooo..." Hiccup groaned while rolling over, revealing the book Hiccup had most likely stayed up all night reading.

"Hiccup, were you up all night reading again?"

Another unintelligible grumble sounded as Hiccup pulled the covers up.

"_Whack!_" a young voice called, just as Astrid's head felt the impact of a strong hit.

"Ow! Svala, why'd you hit Mommy?" Astrid asked as she turned to face the small, 15 month old toddler, light brown curls covering her grin.

"Viking!" she called.

Astrid chuckled as she rubbed her head, and proceeded to pull the weapon from her daughter's grasp, only to squint in annoyance when she saw what it was.

"Svala, what did Mommy tell you about playing with Daddy's leg?" Astrid asked as Svala reached out for the fake limb.

"What about my leg?" Hiccup mumbled as he slowly sat up, only to be greeted by a swift whack on his head.

"_Whack!_"

"Ow! Svala, give me back my leg, please, I need it." Hiccup pleaded, now awake.

"Daddy!" she cried as she quickly handed him the leg.

_Thump! Thump! Thump!_

"Toothless!" he called to the ceiling. Astrid merely glared at him before Hiccup sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'm up, I'm up!"

Svala cheered and jumped up and down on the bed while Hiccup tried to place on his prosthetic.

* * *

Svala sat on Toothless' neck as he walked around the town with his friend, Hiccup, who was currently walking to work with Gobber.

"Toothless, buddy, here's my stop. Wanna go flying after work, bud?" Hiccup asked as he scratched his best friend's nose. Toothless quickly jumped up and down in excitement, causing a squeal from his young rider.

As Hiccup walked inside, Toothless proceeded to walk around town with his friend's child on him. The other Vikings would give him the occasional smile, or wave and talk to the young member of the Haddock family.

"Snot!" Svala cried as she saw a familiar face she loved.

Snotlout placed down the axe he was holding around, knowing full well of the ambush he was about to receive. "Hey, Svala!" he cried as he turned around, just as he was attacked by the young Viking with a considerably strong bear hug. Snotlout proceeded to pick her up to take her to her Grandfather, Stoick, as Toothless walked towards where he knew Astrid would be.

As Toothless walked, he thought to himself how much everyone had changed since Svala came along. Sure, he loved Svala as much as everyone, but because of her, he couldn't go riding as much with Hiccup anymore. And without Hiccup, he couldn't fly. He remembered the time they had when it was just them, riding around the world by themselves, helping out people they came across.

That was a lot of flying, and Toothless loved every minute of it.

Astrid had softened up a bit when Svala was born, but that was expected of a mother. Even all the dragons in the village became noticeably less rough when around the new life. She was so fragile, and everyone knew it.

Even if things had changed, some for the better, and some which slightly annoyed Toothless, he knew that he would lay down his life to protect his friend's child.

Overall, Toothless was still as happy as ever.

* * *

Astrid still trained every morning, even if she was a mother now. She would practice her aim and strength with throwing axes at trees on the island's forest, while her dragon, Stormfly, would watch. Some of the other Viking women looked down upon it at first, but then she told them she was training so she could still be in shape to protect her daughter if trouble ever occurred.

That shut them up.

Astrid smirked to herself at the memory as Toothless walked up to her in the forest.

"Hey Toothless." she greeted. "Village life boring you too?" she asked.

Toothless gave a dragon smirk of his own as he proceeded to sit down next to where Astrid stood. Said woman set down her throwing axe and scratched Toothless on the nose, content to listening to his dragon-purr. Stormfly trotted up to them and joined the quiet duo for a moment of rest.

The trio sat in comfortable silence for a while the day slowly dragging on, when the sound of twigs snapping and leaves crunching snapped them out of their moment of peace.

A soaking Snotlout ran through the forest with Hiccup close behind, both of their faces showing the same look of horror.

"Svala's gone!"

* * *

The two dragons and Astrid jumped to their feet at the statement. "Wha-what do you mean?" Astrid asked.

"I took her to the docks," Snotlout started, still gasping from his long sprint to the forest, "to show her the boats, one of them looked unfamiliar, so I went to check it out, I told her to stay but she followed me."

Astrid gave the smallest of smiles at that, it was definitely her daughter all right.

"It was a foreign ship, they called themselves the Pirates of Dutchman..." Snotlout then pointed at Hiccup, who was worriedly staring at the ground. "They said they had some unfinished business with him, and took Svala. I tried to fight them, but the docks were empty, and there were too many of them. The threw me overboard and started off. By then more people came to help, but they were too far off..."

Astrid gasped and glanced at Hiccup, while the two dragons were roaring in their anger.

Toothless stamped his paw as Hiccup finally caught his breath and climbed aboard the dragon, and Astrid did the same with hers.

"Guys...I'm so sorry." Snotlout apologized, still wet and in shock from what happened.

"It's okay, it's not your fault. Just tell the others to hurry up and help us!" Astrid called as they took off.

Snotlout knew he didn't need to tell the other villagers, they heard the sounds of him fighting and came to help...but it was too late. However, he needed to get Hookfang and fly after them.

Halfway through the forest, his shock caught up with him, and he passed out.

* * *

**Short first chapter, I know, but I need to make sure my loyal reviewers are still out there!**

**Is this a good idea or not, let me know! I'll either**

**A. drag this story on about them rescuing their daughter or**

**B. make this a short part of the new story and add a bunch of new adventures to the mix or**

**C. You don't give a trashcan to what I do next.**

**See the nice new review box feature added to conveniently review the story without going to a new page? Let's honor the new system and test that booger out, why don'cha?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I've finally decided what I'm gonna do. I'mma quit writing this story.**

**Just kidding! Haha, Gods I'm evil. Most picked B or C, but I don't want Lord Hircine to feel left out, so here's what I'm gonna do! They're gonna search for their daughter for the whole story, but have little missions and stuff along the way, like the original story. Hopefully it doesn't drag on!**

**And Anonymous, are you a Corpse Bride fan too?! SWEET!**

**Oh, and _THIS CHAPTER HAS DARK THEMES TOWARDS THE END!_ They're pirates, okay? They're creepy, dark, and dirty. Sorry.**

**Here's the next chapter, shutting up now!**

* * *

Hiccup clung tight to Toothless as they soared through the skies, to the mild annoyance of Toothless, but he couldn't blame his friend. Hiccup just lost his kid because of the adventures they'd had previous.

It made Toothless wonder if Hiccup regretted the time they traveled together.

Hiccup moved the prosthetic to a new position, and Toothless obeyed the grieving father, Astrid not too far behind them. They had long since passed the other villagers, seeing as they were the only ones in their village who felt comfortable with the full speed of the dragon.

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled as she tried nudging Stormfly to fly faster. "Hiccup!"

Hiccup sighed and nudged Toothless, who slowed down a bit.

"Hiccup," Astrid sighed as she rode next to him, revealing her red, puffy eyes. "I can't see anything."

Hiccup glanced at his wife and realized that it was the middle of the night, and she looked incredibly tired. But then how could he see, the moon was hidden by dark storm clouds!

"Yeah, okay." Hiccup sighed. "We'll be passing by Cragnogh soon. We can stop there for the night."

"Okay." Astrid yawned, and as they flew together to the island, he could hear her quiet sobs through the wind.

* * *

"You could have told us you needed a place to stay, you could have stayed with us." the monotone voice of Kenna stated, waking the sleeping couple.

Hiccup yawned and glanced around, remembering they didn't want to wake anyone last night, so they took shelter in an old shed.

"We came in the middle of the night, we didn't want to wake anyone." Hiccup tiredly responded.

"I was awake. It's hard to sleep when you feel like throwing up every five minutes."

"What?" Astrid asked, before suddenly remembering the news the last time they saw each other. "Oh!"

Kenna laughed and rubbed her swollen stomach. "So where's your kid?"

The parents sadly gazed down, remembering what had brought them here.

Kenna gasped loudly and placed her hand over her mouth. "Is Svala...?"

"We don't think so. She was kidnapped by pirates that have a grudge with the 'Night Rider.'" Astrid corrected.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry." Kenna apologized. "If you need any help,"

"No, it's okay." Astrid replied, glancing at Kenna's stomach. "We couldn't ask that of you."

Kenna glanced and noticed that Hiccup seemed lost in thought, absently stroking his snoozing dragon.

"Hiccup?" she asked.

"Hm, yeah?" he asked, not moving his gaze.

Kenna paused. "Do you need anything? I can give you some supplies, I'm guessing you left in a hurry."

Hiccup snorted. "You bet we did."

Kenna smiled sadly. "I'll be right back." she stated as she ran off.

"Someone needs to teach her how to run, she's gonna fall running like that." Astrid remarked.

"Hey, she's a nice girl, don't be mean." Hiccup teased, though his sadness seeped through the remark.

Toothless nudged into his side gently, making Hiccup smile at his friend.

"I thawt I heard someone familiar." Elijah walked in, cane in hand.

"Hey, Elijah." Hiccup greeted.

"I'm sorry 'bout your kid, Angel."

Hiccup smiled at the nickname. "Yeah, me too."

* * *

They were once again in the skies, Hiccup once again far in the lead. He allowed himself for a moment to enjoy the wind blowing through his hair, remembering back when it was just him and Toothless, without a care in the world, flying across the world. Not having to worry about slowing down for Astrid to catch up-

"Astrid!"

He immediately tried to pull back on Toothless in an attempt to slow down. Luckily, Toothless understood, but was slightly miffed that he couldn't go his full speed like he used to.

Astrid gave a small tired smile as she once again was side to side with her husband. "Thanks." she said as they continued to fly together in silence.

It was extremely awkward.

"So..." Hiccup started awkwardly. "At lease there's nice weather."

Astrid glared at him. How could he even try to be so calm when their daughter could be tortured, hungry, or even killed? "Yes. There is." she stated coldly, even though they were currently flying above darkened clouds.

Hiccup's eyebrows furrowed for a bit, confused at her behavior. They rode on in silence, and the awkwardness was eating Hiccup alive. He remembered back when there didn't have to be conversations, just him and his dragon flying solo.

He kinda missed it.

"You know..." he started. But what could he say to finish it?!

"I know what?" she snapped at him.

"Well, I'm sure you know a lot of things, but-"

"Is this some sort of joke to you?" she practically screamed. "Our daughter is missing, and I bet you're just excited to be flying with Toothless far away from home again, aren't you!"

"What, no! I'm worried sick about Svala, but-"

"BUT WHAT?!" Astrid let out a harsh scream that caused Hiccup and both dragons to cringe. "You know, you seemed like an intelligent guy, befriending a dragon and all, but you don't know anything!"

Little did they know, that while they argued, the clouds darkened even more, cutting off their view of the ocean entirely.

And cutting off the view of a familiar pirate ship.

* * *

_"My hearties sing chanties_

_Of girls in loose panties_

_Who linger by the shore!_

_For six pence I'll love her_

_Then ditch that land lubber_

_A pirate ever more!"_

The crew cheered as the three drunk pirates smashed their mugs together and gulped them down.

Among the crowd was a little girl with her hands tied with rope, the other end held by the fattest man Svala had ever seen. His dark curly hair just exploded from all over his face, not brushed or trimmed in any way, and was tangled with several crumbs and other various food items. Parts of his beard were matted down and stuck together as well.

He scowled at her as she observed him, and looked at the drunk pirates again. After they sang the song, everyone smiled at them. Svala liked it when people smiled at her.

"A piwate eba mo!" she shouted off-tune, hoping for at least someone to smile at her.

Since she was a Viking, she had an abnormally loud voice that carried. The entire crew silence before bursting out into uncontrollable, drunken laughter.

"Say it again, lassie!" a man slurred.

"A piwate eba mo!" she shouted, followed by louder laughter.

One of the drunk pirates picked up the young girl, to the amusement of the fat man, and placed her on his head. "One more time, Sally!" confusing her name.

"A PIWATE EBA MO!"

Everyone cheered and raised up their mugs, spilling everywhere and drenching nearly everyone, to everyone's laughter.

Svala laughed among with them, happy to finally make people smile towards her again.

"Little Sally's not bad!" one man slurred to the fat man. "Why don't you let her go? I'm sure she'll behave!"

The drunk man rolled his eyes and motioned for the man holding Svala to set her down. Svala once more cowered as the fat man came closer with a knife. "Hold still, lass."

She nodded as the man held her wrists out, which were soon freed from rope, revealing the red impression underneath.

Svala smiled at the fat man, while the others drunkenly cooed.

"Now you listen to whatever these men tell you to do, or it comes back on, ya hear me?"

Svala, as smart as her father, understood and nodded.

She was soon surrounded by other smelly pirates who tried to teach her more lines to several shanties, laughing at the young pronunciation.

Soon Sally emerged, head covered by an oversized hat.

There were more people on this boat than there were people on her island.

And it was fun!

"Let's hear it for Sally!"

The cheers were deafening, while the storm outside carried on its violent behavior.

* * *

"I can't hear you!" Hiccup cried over the wind and rain.

"I said that maybe we should try looking for Svala separately, if you even look for her at all!"

Hiccup groaned and tried again, "WHAT?"

Astrid screamed "FORGET IT!" and took off in a separate direction.

"Astrid!" he cried and tried to chase after her, but Toothless nudged his objection and accidentally knocked his rider off.

Toothless roared and dropped down in an attempt to catch his screaming rider, successful.

"All right, thank you buddy." Hiccup muttered, glancing in the direction of Astrid's retreating form.

He sighed and turned away, hoping to prove to Astrid that he could and _will_ find their daughter, safe and sound.

* * *

**So yeah, this story's gonna be a bit darker, sorry 'bout that. But what do you think? Please let me know! OH! And virtual cookies to whoever knows where I got the chanty from!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry about the long wait, but I've been addicted to reading X-Men Evolution fanfiction. And I started a Danny Phantom one as well. Oh, and I turned 16, and I have my first date tomorrow! Well, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

Astrid held close to her dragon as they sped through the skies, her eyes desperately searching the waters below for any sign of her missing daughter. She wouldn't dare cry, though. Especially at the speeds she were at, the tears would do more harm to her eyes than the stinging wind does. And with this fog, her tear-blurred eyes wouldn't help her at all.

Stormfly moaned softly, sensing her friend's sadness. She never really cared for anyone but herself, but she had hatchlings of her own, that she knew were safe and sound on Berk. She couldn't imagine what Astrid must be feeling, but she uncharacteristically tried her hardest to show sympathy for her companion.

"Stormfly! Down!" Astrid demanded, which her dragon instantly obeyed as they swooped toward the island visible through the thick fog.

They landed on some of the softest sand Astrid ever placed her feet upon. She felt like she could feel it through her boots! She took a cautious step forward, her dragon hesitantly behind her as they blindly walked through the fog. "Hello?" Astrid called out. "Is anyone here?" she screamed louder.

"Over here!" A small voice called from a distance. Astrid jerked her head in the direction the voice came from and sped through, hoping to find some form of help, as her dragon's protesting screeches were ignored behind her.

She stopped after a minute of running before spinning in a circle wildly. "Where are you?"

Several eerie whispers answered her question, though none were audible enough to make out.

"Please, my daughter is missing! Pirates took her, you must help me!"

She was then awarded an instant, horrifying silence. "Help..." the whispers repeated together as one, when the fog started dangerously swirling around Astrid. Said Viking tried to run, but the incredibly, unbelievably soft sand refused to let her feet move as the wind and fog cut off her air supply. She couldn't tell if it was the strange island, or her lack of oxygen, but soon darkness overcame her vision.

Pure, desolate darkness.

Astrid was very afraid. She couldn't feel anything, it felt as though all of her senses had been cut off. She didn't know which direction was up, or if she was even facing a direction at all.

_Awaken_...

Astrid froze, if she wasn't already. She couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed, or if she was moving at all. She was merely surrounded by nothing.

_Awaken!_

The senses quickly returned to Astrid as she felt a sickening pulling sensation seemingly pull her apart in different directions when-

She opened her eyes.

Her eyes focused as she took in the several faces surrounding her, if you could even call them faces. Swirling masses of mist formed each one, not defining any of the features of anyone, but she could tell each one apart from the other one.

Astrid slowly sat up, although the movement didn't feel quite right. It felt almost like...

When she glanced down, she let out a horrifying scream. She herself had the strange mist-bodies of the others surrounding her.

But her scream even sounded strange. It was then that she realized that it formed from no air, she wasn't breathing at all. It was impossible, but she didn't feel the pain of suffocation anymore.

_Relax, it only lasts temporarily, _the soothing voices assured at the same time._  
_

"Where am I?" Astrid asked with her strange new voice.

_Many names identify this location._

"What location?"

_Here._

Astrid glared at the ghostly figures, before fear took over. "Am I dead?"

_You haven't much time, you must find the young Sally before time itself runs out._

"What's that supposed to mean?" Astrid asked, anger lacing through her voice.

_Help has arrived_.

Astrid jerked her eyes open and gasped deep lungfulls of oxygen, relishing in the feeling. She glanced around the desolate, burned island she sat in, the smell of sulfur and fire filling her nostrils. She choked it out and took in another hesitant breath as she stood up, the sharp rocks under her feet piercing into her boots. Her dragon Stormfly then ran through the ruins of the once magnificent forest screeching in happiness when she spotted Astrid. Astrid jumped on her back and the two took off, eager to leave the strange island behind.

The island that looked too much like an ancient skull, from above.

* * *

He would find her.

That was the only thought that went through his mind as he sped through the clear skies, desperately looking for his daughter as Toothless did the same.

A sudden gust of wind nearly blew Hiccup off of his dragon, before stopping as instantly as it came.

"Okay...that's a little weird." Hiccup mused out loud as the continued the search, eventually coming across land.

"Toothless, land!" he yelled as the dragon obeyed, wanting to land their himself. Toothless sensed something there.

"Hiccup!" a voice called out.

Said man jerked around to the direction of the voice. "Hello?" he asked.

Soon a familiar face appeared in the trees. "Christine?" Hiccup asked in wonder.

"There isn't much time," the apparition stated. "But more are on your side then you know. You must find Sally, before time runs out!"

"I'd love to, but I have to-"

"One and the same, Hiccup. She's more important to you than you know!" she called as she faded away. "Trust me! The balance of the peace lies in the balance!"

Hiccup blinked at her vanishing form, before glancing to Toothless. "Alright, so that was the weirdest thing I've ever seen..." he attempted to shrug it off, but her message still haunted him. Who was Sally, and why would he give up searching for his daughter for some unknown girl?

He wasn't.

Deciding to continue flying, they leaped back up into the sky to continue their search.

* * *

Sally gasped as she saw the small dragon in the dungeon. It was chained, and definitely malnourished and tortured.

"Why hurt the wittle dragon?" the young girl asked with tears in her eyes.

The fat man knelt down to her level, his horrid breath and beard nearly covering her face. "They be evil, lass. Dragons are the very thing that killed your parents."

Sally let out a sob as she stared at the poor dragon. "But they good!"

"Nay, they are not. They fooled the lot of ya, just to feed on ya once they gained yer trust."

"But Daddy-"

"Was killed by that black beast of 'is. I knew the man, and followed his beliefs, until I saw the beast swallow 'im 'ole. I knew 'e'd wan' me to take care of ya, but didn't know how'dya react, but welcome aboard, lass. Terrible sorry for yer loss." a fake tear trailed down his face, joining the various other things stuck in his beard. "We'd be doin' yer parents a favor by saving the rest of this planet from the dragon menace, and we'd be honored if ye'd join us."

Sally, with the tears still freely falling, nodded her head.

"Trust me, ye'd do yer parents proud. Come, we must begin yer training."

Meanwhile, the small dragon looked up in fear at the young daughter of a good human friend of his. Christine and Hiccup were wrong, humans and dragons will never live in peace. The dragon yanked on the rotten chain one more time, the chain snapping. The small dragon named Hope squeezed through the bars and flew through the sky to bring the news of the devastating war to come.

* * *

"What's going on?" Stoick, one of the few who chose to travel by boat exclaimed as every dragon near his ship flew off, hissing at the travelers hatefully. The owners of dragons called for their dragons to come back tearfully, but could only watch helplessly as they flew away from them. The unlucky souls who were riding dragons were hurled off their backs and plummeted into the seemingly black ocean, screaming for help the whole way down. Screeches, roars, and flapping wings were also a part of the scene at hand before they flew away.

As the dragons faded off into the distant fog, nothing but the soft waves and the creaking ship dared to make a sound as the Vikings stared at the fog. Hope, it seemed, had left along with the dragons' instant, spontaneous retreat.

Barely a minute had passed when all of a sudden, even the waves and ship ceased their noise and the fog hurried toward them. The now frightened Vikings started to scream as the fog devoured them at an impossible speed, only to be drowned out by the silence the fog carried over them.

* * *

**Eh? Dark, I told you it would be. Did I deliver darkness, or what?**

**(Some idiot in background) _No, you delivered the Silence._**

**Me: Shut up! That is copyright of Doctor Who, plagiarist.**

**Oh yeah, there's a one-shot I wrote, _Finding Hope_, that you'd have to read in order to understand this chapter more. Please review that story as well.**

**THIS CHAPTER IS ALSO IN NEED OF REVIEWS PLEASE!**


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